Pubdate: Thu, 09 May 2002
Source: Cobourg Daily Star (CN ON)
Contact:  2002 Northumberland Publishers
Website: http://www.northumberlandtoday.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2227
Author: Steven Bacon

THE REALITIES OF CANNABIS

To the Editor:

Re: Police bust indoor pot setup (Sunday, 28, 2002)

Good old cannabis has been around for 5,000 years. Sailing men in majestic 
wooden ships with their rope and sails fashioned from hemp discovered this 
continent of ours. And many different cultures have used it medicinally for 
centuries, including our own, until it was removed from our pharmacopoeia 
in the early '40s. The prohibition of cannabis has gone through much 
metamorphosis. Reefer Madness, as it was called in the '30s, promised 
insanity, violence and sexual deprivation. Over the decades, the different 
campaigns and fear mongering have come and gone. As people generally 
refused to accept the lies about cannabis, governments have had to come up 
with different and more complex strategies in an effort to drum up support 
for a failing, escalating, war on drugs -- the latest of which is terrorism 
and that the buying and selling of cannabis is supporting it; therefore if 
you use, you're a terrorist too! That coupled with exaggerated over 
reactions of the dangers of a grow house in your neighborhood seem to make 
up most of the prohibitionist bark today. So reading a police report on 
"super hydroponic pot" that's as powerful (therefore insinuating as 
dangerous) as cocaine is really a step backwards into prohibitionist 
propaganda techniques. Firstly, it has already been disproved. There has 
never been a recorded death due to cannabis use or abuse. Cocaine, on the 
other hand does kill. Secondly, you underestimate everyone else's 
intelligence. The 4 million Canadians who use cannabis know better and 
polls show a large majority of Canadians are unhappy with current laws and 
drug policies. The police have succeeded in one thing here: they have lost 
more credibility and respect in people's minds, especially our youth. A 
teenager's trust can be difficult to acquire and hold. It only takes one 
good lie to dissolve it.

Steven Bacon / Oshawa 
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